With or Without You
by Ti-Lung
Summary: Walking the streets of Jump City with Raven, Robin considers her part on the team.


Disclaimer: Don't own U2 lyrics or TT

**With or Without You**

It was laundry day. Laundry day was a day that three people in the Teen Titan household got to pile up mounds of laundry to give to the other two and two people dreaded cleaning these mounds, depending upon the rotation of chores that week. This week it was Raven and Robin.

5 bulging bags of laundry between two people would be a problem if the two people didn't include a telekinetic and a boy who spent half his time lifting weights. They made there way down the street, walking side by side cursing Beast Boy's stupidity in somehow breaking all three washing machines. It made Robin wonder whether or not he was fully competent as a teammate. What made any of these powerful teenagers the right people to fight crime?

Robin walked along with Raven, his teammate and friend and considered what made her a valued member of the team.

_---------------_

_See the stone set in your eyes  
See the thorn twist in your side  
I wait for you  
Slight of hand and twist of fate  
On a bed of nails she makes me wait  
And I wait without you_

_---------------_

Raven didn't lift her three bags of laundry, but had a black magic surround them. She faced forward, her face holding a regal command about it, though she showed no emotion. Her violet eyes looked ahead of her and didn't seem to look at the present but to look past it all into the future, only the occasional blink to interrupt the line of visions.

Robin gazed upon the face he looked at every day and realized he had hardly ever saw an emotion break through its hard shell. It was her curse that he knew so little of. She was the one that had brought the Titans together, so no one ever pushed about her past, they figured at one point or another she would open up to them.

They had waited three years so far in vain.

Raven was probably closest to him out of all the team since the day she opened up his mind. She had seen him, but he never saw her. He knew part of her, but he always seemed to have to jump through hundreds of hoops to reach the tiniest piece of knowledge of her._  
_

_---------------  
With or without you  
With or without you _

Through the storm we reach the shore  
You give it all but I want more  
And I'm waiting for you

Robin never felt as if he knew her and yet by knowing nothing he was the one who understood her best out of everyone in the world. She was a powerful young woman, but the sight of her looked like a strong gust of wind could blow her off into the blood red sunset never to return.

Raven knew the anxiety Robin felt and tried to comply…most of the time, but what little she could give he could not use to satisfy his curious nature. He needed to be able to look past that light gray face and into the bottomless violet eyes and see the answer to the enigma that was Raven Roth.

_---------------  
With or without you  
With or without you  
I can't live  
With or without you _

And you give yourself away  
And you give yourself away  
And you give  
And you give  
And you give yourself away

The girl who wasn't born to live. She was born with a purpose, an evil purpose that would lead to the downfall of all of man kind on Earth. She resisted and nearly got herself killed in the process. She had the strongest will he knew. She could have easily inherited an evil empire and given into her dark magic (Trigon mentioned this in a promise once).

She could have had emotion. She chose freedom.

Life knocked her down over and over but she continued to get up, all for the sake of…what did she fight for? Friendship, justice, or just to spite her father? Why did she choose a life in which she couldn't feel, but she could live?

_---------------  
My hands are tied, my body bruised  
She's got me with nothing left to win  
And nothing else to lose_

_---------------  
_

What made Raven Roth a valued member of the Teen Titans? It was not her magic, it was her personality. Or even her spirit that could never be surpassed or an aura of respect surrounding her. It was that she had sacrificed it all for this. She sacrificed her wants to let others dream. She fought for others in retaliation to the people of Earth's biggest threat.

Herself.

_--------------  
And you give yourself away  
And you give yourself away  
And you give  
And you give  
And you give yourself away_

_--------------  
_

Robin ignored the hushed whispers all around the two superheroes, he was used to them and didn't care that they were probably making up a bunch of rumors that would feature in the next issue of some sleazy gossip magazine.

Two little children, a boy looking about seven and a little girl about five, came running up to the two superheroes holding pieces of paper and pens in their chubby little hands.

"'scuse me, could you give me and my sister an autograph?" The little boy stood in front of them, obviously in awe of the two legendary figures.

"Sure thing kid, what's your name?" Robin took the piece of paper and scribbled a message to the little boy.

"You're my favoritwe, Raven" Robin looked over at Raven whose pen hovered over the paper, a small smile gracing her face. This is what made her fight, to see a happy face on a small child.

_---------------  
With or without you  
With or without you  
I can't live  
With or without you_

_---------------_

The two children ran off in glee to their mother. Robin smiled and watched them go before turning to grab his two bags of laundry. He watched Raven follow the little girl with her eyes the tiniest of smiles on her face.

"Robin?" Raven voice awoke him from his reverie.

"Yeah?"

"Your staring"

AN: What do you think? Should I make another chapter having Raven observe Robin in her mind? Mind you I won't do it unless people really want me to, because I'm not that good with following a train of thought…hehe.


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